Tasting- Villa Pozzi

Name: Villa Pozzi
Variety: Moscato
Region: Sicily
Country: Italy
Price: $8.95
The Winery Review: Loaded with juicy exotic fruit, mature apricot, yellow peach and tangerine flavors, this sweet and delightful wine is perfect for Sunday brunch or picnics.
My Review: A quick side note my great grandparents are from Sicily.  The initial smell of this wine was a fruity smell with some spice.  I could not put a name to the spice but I was leaning to basil or Italian herb.  I know Moscato are supposed to be sweet but this wine was to sweet kind of like a dessert wine which just about ruined it for me because that was just about all I could taste.  I would give this wine a 4 out of 10 in my book.

Tasting- Paul Laureano

Name: Paul Laureano
Variety: Tinto Classico
Region: Alentejano
Country: Portugal
Year: 2013
Price: $8.95
The Winery Review: Paul Laureano's Classico is a delicious blend of the native Portuguese varietals Trincaderia (40%), Aragonez (40%) and Alfrocheiro (20%).  This is a full bodied red that reveals all that the terroir of Portugal has to offer.  Light cigar tobacco and soft leather present beautifully on the nose.  Dark, black fruits fill the mouth, but the wine flows smoothly over the palate, with a good bit of spice on the finish.  Pair with spicy, cured meats and hard cheeses.
My Review: I like the name of this variety Tinto Classico it makes sound more fancy.  In all honesty I have never heard of this type of wine until I want to the tasting.  What through me off with this wine is I could smell the dryness if that is possible and along with the dryness it had an earthy smell.  I taste of this wine was a mixture of dirt and a little sweet like dropping a candy in the dirt and licking it clean.  This wine also tasted a little dry.  I would give this wine 8 out of 10.

Tasting- Bodegas Atalaya

Name: Bodegas Atalaya
Variety: Laya
Region: Almansa
Country: Spain
Year: 2013
Price: $8.95
The Winery Review: A blend of 70% Garnacha Tintorera, a.k.a. Alicante Bouschet, and 30% Monastrell; fermented in stainless steel, followed by four months in french oak.  Bright purple.  Cassis, blueberry, pungent herbs and mocha on the nose.  Smooth and open-knit on the palate, displaying fresh cherry and dark berry qualities and a hint of black berry.  Finishes with gripping tannins and good length, leaving subtle floral note behind.
My Review: This was a dark red wine with some thicker legs on it.  The smell I got was a cherry smell along with some pepper.  The taste I got was a harsh dry taste with and alcohol finish.  I also got some cherry and oak taste on the second round.  Stephen Tanzer gave this wine 88 points but I would give this wine a 5 out of 10.

Tasting- Mars and Venus

Name: Mars and Venus
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Central Valley
Country: Chile
Price: $5.95
The Winery Review: A very nice value Chardonnay that comfortably over-delivers vs. its modest price tag.  No oak here, just bushels of clean crisp, Chardonnay apple and stone fruit with a hint of caramelized pineapple.  Juicy and clean, this is a mid-weight white that's just perfect for parties of weeknight sipping.
My Review: This Chardonnay had a crisp apple smell to it that jumped out immediately.  After I smelled the apple I was suspecting a more sweeter taste but instead I got a dry tart taste with a crisp finish.  I would give this wine a 8 out of 10.

Tasting- Cortenova

Name: Cortenova
Variety: Pinot Grigio
Region: Veneto
Country: Italy
Year: 2013
Price: $6.95
The Winery Review: Brilliant straw color with emerald reflections.  Fresh and floral bouquet with a hint of pears, apricots and bananas.  Fresh and inviting with bright fruit and an easy drinking style with a pleasing hint of almonds in the aftertaste
My Review: The Cortenova had a nice fruity smell.  The taste was dry but smooth and a little sweet.  This was an ok wine in my opinion not my favorite I tasted this week.  To me there was not anything different or special about it.  I would give this wine an 5 out of 10.

Winery Visit: The Williamsburg Winery

I went on the Williamsburg Winery tour and tasting with my mom and grandparents.
Location: 5800 Wessex Hundred, Williamsburg, Virginia 23185
Website: www.williamsburgwinery.com
The tour and tasting cost 10 dollars

Me in front of the driveway entrance to the Winery.

Front desk were we paid for the tour and tasting

After we paid we had like 15 minutes to kill before the tour started so these were some of the stuff that we were looking at while we waited. 

Board waiting Pic 1 

Board waiting Pic 2

The very first part of the Williamsburg Winery tour was we watched a 6 minute video on there perspective of wine and what it means to them.  When the video was done that is when we went on the tour of the winery.

The first place we went to was an older part of the building that was around during the Colonial era. Then we went to the red wine storage. Where the tour guide talked about how they labeled each barrel.  One of the more interesting things I learned during this part of the tour was that they only grew three red grapes and 4 white grapes on this vineyard.  They import the rest that they use in a lot of there other wines. there were some barrels that were marked with a MT witch meant the inside of the barrel was toasted ( burnt with a torch) to add some flavor.  I also found out that each barrel holds about 300 bottles of wine.  They also put some of there red wines in some stainless steel tanks which hold about 7400 bottles of wine. the most interesting part of the tour was hearing about the new ceramic eggs which they ferment some of there red wine which are for club members only which I never heard off.

 One view of the oak barrels.

 A different view of the oak barrels

The ceramic eggs.

After the red whine storage we saw there bottling set up which was a bunch of different machines on a conveyor belt. they said that they put the foil on by hand which I thought was interesting.

Apart of the bottling set up

When we were done checking out the machines we went to there little museum they have. They had a lot of old bottles from the Colonel Era.  They said they even found a skeleton on they land.  He was sent to the smithsonian and the body was dated to the Colonel Era.  The thing I thought was the coolest was the old hydrometer that they had.  there hydrometer was a bunch of glass balls at different density and the ball with the highest density that was floating would represent the alcohol concentration of the wine.

 Small scale model of the building 

Some of there old wine bottle collection

So the next stop on the tour was to view the white wine storage.  In the white wine storage room they had 6 giant stainless steel tanks that hold about 16000 bottles of wine.

 Some of the giant tanks

When we were finally done the last thing we did was some wine tasting.  There was a total of eight different wines that we got to taste.

Todays Tasting

Name:James River White
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $9.00
The Winery Review: A Sauvignon Blanc Aged only in stainless steel to emphasize fresh, fruity flavors.  Consider pairing this wine with seafood or a mixed green salad
My Review: This wine had a nice fruity smell.  It also had a bitter sweet taste that was a little tart.  All in all I would give this wine a 6 out of 10.

Name: John Adlum Chardonnay
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $13.00
The Winery Review: Our lightest Chardonnay is aged primarily in stainless steel resulting in citrus and pear notes.  This wine will pair nicely with soup, salads and hor d'oeuvers
My Review: There was a nice fruity smell with a hint of apple. It had a nice smooth crisps taste with some peach. I would give this wine a 7 out of 10.

Name: A Midsummer Night's White
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $16.00
The Winery Review: This fruity and highly aromatic wine was produced from an extremely low-yield vineyard  on Wessex Hundred, the farm upon which the Williamsburg Winery is located 
My Review: I really enjoyed this wine.  On the nose it has a smooth floral perfume smell.  On the taste buds it had a nice acidic alcohol taste that was smooth and sweet. I found out they grow three of the 4 grapes used in this wine.  I would give this wine a 8 out of 10.  

Name: Arundell Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $13.00
The Winery Review: This old world style Cabernet, has a nice balance between the fruit and the earthy character, best complements rich pasta dishes and grilled meats
My Review: This wine had a nice dry earthy perfume smell with some legs on the glass.  Its taste was very smooth and dry. There was also a nice cherry hint at the end of it.  I would give this wine a 6 out of 10.

Name: Burgesses' Measure Merlot
Variety: Merlot
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2012
Price: $19.00
The Winery Review: the Merlot features a cherry, strawberry and cranberry bouquet with an earthy, spicy finish.  Pair this wine pulled pork, ribs, or a hamburger
My Review:This wine was another one of my favorite wines that I was able to try at the winery.  The initial smell was a nice oaky wood one. It was a very smooth taste that was little dry with some thicker legs on the glass.  I would give this wine a 8.5 out of 10.

Name: Gabriel Archer Reserve
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2012
Price: $32.00
The Winery Review: This reserve wine represents our winemaker's powerful skill at blending red Bordeaux varietals.  It pairs with most meats, and especially goes well with filet mignon
My Review: This wine had a little more unique smell that was dry.  it also had an earth smell along with cherries.  The taste of this wine was dry with some earthy dirt taste, with some alcohol taste at the end. I would give this wine a 6 out of 10.

Name: Jamestown Cellars Settler's Spiced Wine
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Price: $12.00
The Winery Review: Red wine blended with cloves, Cinnamon, nutmeg, and other spices.  Designed as mulled wine, it is meant to be served warm during winter by the fireplace
My Review: This wine had a very unique taste and smell.  The smell was a cinnamon spice with some apple.  The taste was not like an other wine but it just tasted like cinnamon apple.  I would give this wine a 7.5 out of 10.

Name: Vin Licoreux de Framboise
Variety: Red Wine with Raspberry
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Price: $18.00
The Winery Review: This dessert wine showcases the brightness of raspberries with the subtle nuances of Merlot.  Serve lightly chilled after dinner or with chocolate or fruit-based desserts.
My Review: this wine had a great cranberry and plum smell to it.  The taste of this wine was super sweet along with fruit and plum.  I would give this wine a 5 out of 10.

Side note: All the pictures are courtesy of my grandpa Richard Smith.  I would not mind going back when grapes are growing to see how nice it will look and not so barren.

Wine and Cheese Pairing

I did a wine and cheese pairing over spring break with my parents.

Me, My mom, and dad.

During the wine and cheese paring we had four different cheeses some crackers and some grapes that I tried with the different wine. All that I had to do was three different cheese but with this packet I was able to do four so we figured why not.  The cheese were:
White Muenster
New York Aged Cheddar (aged 6 months)
Gouda
Havarti with Dill

All the cheese, wine, grapes, and crackers.

I did this tasting a little different then I did with the wine dinner.  With the dinner I tried one type of food with the three different wine before I moved onto the next dish but this time I had one wine and then tried all the food before moving onto the next wine. (side note there was no red wine because it gives my mom headaches)

The Paring wines.

Name: Santiago Station

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc

Region: Valle Central

Country: Chile

Initial: It had a nice fruity and pear smell to it.  It tasted a little acidic and citrusy.  I would give this wine an 7 out of 10.
White Muenster: No change
New York Aged Cheddar: No change
Gouda: No change
Havarti with Dill: No change for me.  My dad thought it got a more acidic taste to it.
Side notes:  We all thought that the wheat cracker made the wine a little more sharper in taste

Name: Wild Haven

Variety: Pinot Gris

Region: Washington State

Country: USA

Year: 2013

Initial: Wild haven had a fruity and a pine smell on the nose.  At first it had a crisp and citrus taste with a acidic taste sat on the pallet.  I would give this wine a 7.5 out of 10.
White Muenster: me or my mom really noticed any change while my dad thought that the cheese made the wine smoother taste.
New York Aged Cheddar: I felt it increased the alcohol/acidic taste.  While my mom felt it got smoother.  My dad did not notice much of a change.
Gouda: this was a lot like the White Muenster where me or my mom did not notice a change.  while my dad thought it was a little more bitter.
Havarti with Dill: Me and my mom both thought the wine tasted sharper and my dad did not notice to much change.
Side notes: We all thought that the multigrain cracker we had with the wines almost ruined the wine taste or really dulled it.  Most of are favorite combo was the White Muenster and Gouda with the wine.

Name: Five Branches

Variety: Chardonnay

Region: California

Country: USA 

Initial: The Five Branches had a nice fruity and peach smell.  The initial taste was a little dry with an oak taste.
White Muenster: I felt it made the wine sharper.  My mom thought the cheese brought out more flavor like vanilla and lowered some of the oak taste. My dad did not really notice any change.
New York Aged Cheddar: I thought that it made the wine sharper like the one above while my mom and dad thought it lowered the acidic taste which made it more dull.
Gouda: I thouhgt that this cheese made it more dull and my parents thought that it increased the alcohol taste.
Havarti with Dill: We all thought that it was nasty with the wine almost ruining it.
Side notes: We really like the White Muenster and wine combo the best.

Overview:
Doing the wine and cheese paring was fun at first but became a little to much. the constant change of cheese and type of wine more upset all are stomachs.  I also would recommended doing something like this with more then just three people because we all drank more then we planned on (almost a full bottle per person within an hour).   I did not talk about the grapes because we thought that the grapes were nasty with all the wine.

Some of my dogs wanted to join in on the tasting.

Homemade Lasagna Wine Dinner

I had a wine dinner pairing with my parents, my little brother and my grandparents.

My family with my grandpa taking the picture.

My grandma was nice enough to make me one of my favorite dishes for the my wine dinner paring. The first part of the wine dinner paring was a salad with poppyseeds dressing for an appetizer.
The second part of the paring was homemade lasagna and garlic bread.
In order to finish it all off we had White chocolate coconut cheese cake.
The main focus of the paring with the wine was the salad, the lasagna and the cheese cake.

Us toasting to a good grade before we eat. (except for my brother)

The wines that were used in the pairing were:
Name: Paradise Peak
Variety: Sweet Riesling
Region: Washington State
Country: USA
Year: 2013

Name: Stemmari
Variety: Nero D'Avola
Region: Sicilia
Country: Italy
Year: 2010

Name: Muscat
Variety: Terres De Muscat (desert wine)
Year: 2012

I choose these wines because they are supposed to pair with a dish at the wine dinner.  The Paradise Peak was supposed to go with the salad, the Stemmari with the lasagna, and the Muscat with the cheesecake.  Before the paring of the dishes I tried each wine by itself like I would at a tasting.

Paradise Peak- It had a nice fruit smell with a hint of a apple crisp.  The taste was sweet and with a little bit of granny smith apple taste on the back of my tongue.  I actually like this wine by itself I would give it a 8.5 out of 10.

Stemmari- It was a nice dark red wine with some small legs.  The main thing that through me off with this wine is I could smell the acidic of the wine.  The taste of the wine was a little dry but just not as dry as most of the other wines I have had.  It was also slightly bitter with an alcohol after taste.  I would give this wine a 7 out of 10.  On a side note the only person who did not drink this wine besides my underage little brother was my mom because she does not do red wine period.

Muscat- A side not before I talk about my initial overview of the wine is I have never had a desert wine before and I actually learned a small desert wine is typically twelve servings and a regular wine bottle is typically six servings.  When I was at the store buying it I thought I had to pick up to bottles at first until the person who was giving me recommendations explain to me about desert wines.  The muscat had a nice fruity smell and some small legs which I don't normally see with white wines.  I want to restate that I have never had a desert wine and after I tasted it that was when I learned that they are good awful sweet and what was all I could taste.

Some sniff,sniff and taste of the Stemmari

These were my thoughts on how the wines went with the salad:

Paradise Peak- the taste did not change much in my opinion.

Stemmari- the salad lowered a little of some of the sweetness of the wine, but I think that was more from the dressing.

Muscat- I was able to taste a little more of the alcohol, but it was still super sweet.

Next is the Lasagna:

Paradise Peak- I felt there was a little bit less sweetness, but not much.

Stemmari- It lowered the alcohol taste and the bitterness which made it a little bit more enjoyable.

Muscat- it had the same effect as the salad as it I was able to taste a little more of the alcohol, but it was still super sweet.

Finally Cheesecake:

Paradise Peak-  That was one of the worst combos of the night. It felt like the taste of the wine was fighting against the cheesecake.

Stemmari- It was ok but still not that good.  the sweetness of the cheesecake was counter reacting the bitterness of the wine.

Muscat-  This combo was the biggest change of all.  It made the muscat actually bearable by dramatically lowering the sweetness of the wine a lot.

Overview:

Overall it was a nice fun experience and it was even more fun being able to do this with my family. My favorite wine by itself was the Paradise Peak.  The one with the best combo was the Cheesecake with the Muscat because of the dramatic change in taste.

Tasting- Crane Lake Riesling

Name: Crane Lake
Variety: Riesling
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $5.95
The Winery Review: Punchy lime and lemon mark this off-dry Riesling with a staccato rhythm, adding edge to honeyed tones of peach and honeysuckle. Exceptionally priced, it's satisfying and elegant.
My Review:At the wine tasting I was not able to was out my glass so when the Riesling was poured into mine the white wine turned a little pink because I just had the Crane Lake Petite Sirah in there right before.  So my judgment may not be as reliable.  I was able to get a floral smell from the riesling.  It had a sweet taste along with a little bit of lime.  I would give this one a 7.5 out of 10 but I would definitely want to retry a non contaminated sample.

Tasting- Crane Lake Petite Sirah

Name: Crane Lake
Variety: Petite Sirah
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $5.95
The Winery Review: Shows a certain rustic simplicity now, with youthfully jammy flavors of blackberries, cherries and currants, sprinkled with cocoa and pepper and wrapped into dusty tannins.
My Review:  The Petite Sirah was a nice darker red wine that had some thicker legs on the glass.  I was not able to get much from the smell beside the standard wine smell.  It had a nice dry smooth earthy taste.  I would say this was one of my more favorite red wines.  I would give this one a 8 out of 10.

Tasting- Yellowtail reserve

Name: Yellowtail Reserve
Variety: Merlot
Region: South Eastern
Country: Australia
Year: 2013
Price: Normally 12 dollars
The Winery Review: Round, velvety and mouthfilling, this is a satisfying Merlot at a bargain price.  Aromas of black cherries and herbs fold in hints of cinnamon and mocha, while the flavors are generally fruity, but with a slightly tomatoey note. Soft and the finish. Drink Now.
My Review:  The Yellowtail had a nice red look to with with some light legs, which typically mean more tannins.  It had a nice cherry smell to it.  After tasting it I got a dry cotton taste.  I would give this one a 6.5 out of 10.

Tasting- Takutai

Name: Takutai
Variety: Pinot Gris
Region: Nelson
Country: New Zealand
Year: 2009
Price: Normally 21 dollars
The Winery Review: Since this wine weighs in at 14%, the fruit was clearly very ripe.  That ripeness is reflected in the flavors as well, which feature nectarine and honey accented by hints of white pepper. It's full bodied and lush, with a long finish that mingles the sensations of sweet and spicy
My Review:  The Takutai had some floral smell with a small amount of spice kind of like pepper spice.  The taste was bitter and dry which was not doing to much for me.  I do not see where they got honey and nectarine.  I would give this one more of a 5 out of 10.

Tasting- Mars And Venus

Name: Mars and Venus
Variety: sauvignon Blanc
Region: La Mancha
Country: Spain
Year: 2013
Price: Normally 10 dollars
The Winery Review: Citrus and gooseberry aromas are mild but typical of the variety. A basic citrus palate delivers modest tangerine and nectarine flavors which lead to a mild, pithy finish showing light citric notes.
My Review: The Mars and venus had a nice fruity smell along with some citrus and a little bit of floral.  It had a tart citrus taste along with some orange peal  with a little bit of an acidic ending.  This was one of the few times I have been able to taste some of the same things along with the winery review.  I would give this one an 8 out of 10.